S H U S H I N G

DARE WE BE QUIET.          .           .
DARE WE BE STILL.           .            .

NOW THAT YOU HAVE HEARD/SEEN THE POEM
R          E          A          D
I     T

KEEPING STILL
Pablo Neruda
(Translated from the Spanish by Dan Bellm)

Now we will count to twelve
and let’s keep quiet.

For once on earth
let’s not talk in any language;
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

A moment like that would smell sweet,
no hurry, no engines,
all of us at the same time
in need of rest.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would stop harming whales
and the gatherer of salt
would look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and go for a walk with their brothers
out in the shade, doing nothing.

Just don’t confuse what I want
with total inaction;
it’s life and life only;
I’m not talking about death.

If we weren’t so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving
and could maybe do nothing for once
a huge silence might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves,
of threatening ourselves with death;
perhaps the earth could teach us;
everything would seem dead
and then be alive.

Now I will count up to twelve
and you keep quiet
and I will go.

(My thanks for the poem to Pablo Neruda,
LIKE SO MANY TIMES WHEN POETRY POURS OVER ME.          .          .
IT POURS OUT OF ME IN A NOT SO QUIET SHUSHING:

Shhhhhhhhh
we were told
and often were offended
by this not-so-gentle
SHUTTING UP
but power it is
when we
Self-Shush
Even now
         NOW
Do It
Shhhhhhhh yourself down

Hush Hush yourself
Quiet down
to a Peace that be found
no other way
Let the self-imposed Stillness
SCREAM at you
what you truly need to hear
(FALLING SILENT IS THE GENTLEST FALLING DOWN THERE IS)
NOW
shush yourself

(And have a HAPPY MONDAY in your own ‘shushed’ way)